1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for determining the setting process in an inorganic aqueous binder system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such a binding material system consists of an inorganic binder and water or an aqueous saline solution. Cement is a suitable inorganic binder. A mixture of binder and water is at first castable and sets by means of a chemical reaction.
Binder systems of cement and water are used to set waste, especially radioactively contaminated waste, in concrete. The setting process is determined by measuring tests.
In chemistry related to concrete, tests of the behavior of concrete during setting are also conducted.
Known methods to determine the setting process are the needle penetration method and the calorimetric method. In the needle penetration method the penetration depth of a weighted needle into the binder system is determined. Reduction of the penetration depth indicates the setting process.
In the calorimetric method, the temperature variation of a thermally insulated probe is registered. Since heat energy is released during setting, a rise in temperature indicates the setting process.
With the known methods it is often impossible to determine the setting process, especially during slow progress of the chemical reaction in the binder system. In a reaction taking several days the temperature rise is so small that the calorimetric method fails. The needle penetration method only gives indications of the setting process in the surface layers. Insights into the setting process in the inside of a body are impossible with this method.